My Media Day: Clare Smith, head of marketing and PR, Scottish Government

CLARE Smith is head of marketing and PR at the Scottish Government. In October, she was named Communicator of the Year at the annual awards of the Scottish division of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

She submitted this on Friday, June 6.

What exactly is it you do?

I lead a team of marketing and PR specialists in the Scottish Government, delivering an array of public information, behavior change and international engagement campaigns. This year alone we will deliver over 46 campaigns and projects so, as a small team of 20, we rely on our agencies and myriad of stakeholders to act as an extension of our team, share our vision and support us in achieving it.

I’m a civil servant, so I work for the Government of the day, implementing their policies. A lot of people ask if I work at parliament or for a specific party – which is why I point this out. The marketing we do isn’t about selling products, it’s about changing behaviours and informing the public of changes in legislation or uptake of service provision. Everything we do contributes to the Government’s purpose – “creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth”.

How does marketing do that? Well, in crude terms, our road safety campaigns aim to reduce accidents on Scotland’s roads. This not only makes our country safer and saves lives; road accidents cost Scotland over £1,300 million every year. Equally, if we can increase the numbers of people getting the flu vaccine we save lives, reduce hospital admissions and reduce days lost to illness. If more people reduce food waste we not only create a Greener Scotland we save people up to £470 per year. Adoption of home insulation makes our homes warmer and reduces household bills… the list goes on.

What did your working day today or yesterday comprise?

Yesterday, I attended the Edinburgh Festival Fringe launch and discussed how our international marketing team will support the promotion and coverage of the festivals this year.

I also attended a ‘Ready for Winter’ campaign planning session – on a hot June afternoon! I like being at the ‘coal face’ on some projects, I think it’s important to know just enough about the detail of our campaigns as well as working on the strategy. It’s the fun bit that makes the management and report writing worthwhile.

In between times, I’ve drafted a blog about celebrating successes as well as learning from glorious ‘f-ups’. The team won the PRCA Team of the Year Award last week which makes us the holders of the ‘Team of the Year Treble’, as also voted by the Marketing Society and CIPR. On top of this, I’ve read the papers, sent a note to Ministers, returned dozens of emails, approved a final TV ad, planned the launch of our next campaign preventing littering, tweeted a lot and been to a leaving do. Typical random 24 hours, really.

How different or similar is your average working day to when you started?

I’ve been very lucky in my career in that I’ve always loved what I do, where I do it and who I do it with. That’s not changed. Working in the Government comes with a different level of scrutiny and transparency, which is right and proper, but there are more processes to follow than in an agency or newspaper where I’ve worked previously. However, the exciting briefs we work to, and the varied nature of the work, makes the ‘governmenty’ part worthwhile .

And yes, technology has changed how we communicate but, at the end of the day, it’s still about right message, right time, right place.

How do you see your job evolving?

The Scottish Government marketing team has changed loads over the years. I joined in 2008 and even then we were innovative in terms of the channels we used and evaluation techniques deployed. We don’t stand still. We’re often described as an in-house agency – I like that description, it reflects that we move with the times, are hard-working and creative.

What gives you the most job satisfaction?

It’s corny, but I think seeing the team develop and grow – learning from each other, the agencies we work with and our own successes/mistakes. It’s great to lead a motivated, creative team on the phones, dashing to meetings, typing furiously – all loving what they do.

And the old PR in me still gets a buzz when something we’ve worked on gets good coverage. I love a photo story!